As is stated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,175, which issued to Delmar R. Johnson, the processing of various types of business records and transactions involves the entry of information into a computer and the use of documents which may be concomitantly microfilmed. The combining of the data entry and the microfilm recording may be arranged such that the computer index, which results from the data entry, and the frame sequence on the film are synchronized and thus the computer index may be employed for effective data or document retrieval. If the procedures are technically combined, the need for a separate microfilming step is avoided and consequently there is a reduction in processing time and labor.
The Johnson Patent discloses an automatic microfilm camera positioned to record an image of a document while it is being read by an operator of a computer terminal. The computer generates a computer index number and optionally other revelant information, which may be forwarded via an interface circuit to a display adjacent a station at which the document to be photographed is supported. The camera takes a picture of the document and display under the control of the operator who pushes an appropriate button at the computer terminal or associated keyboard. Thus, both the document and the display are photocopied and the camera and computer are synchronized so as to maintain a mutual sequencing.
In the arrangement, the camera is provided with a film transport path which is fixed and thus susceptible of only one type of usage, as well as relatively limited focusing and this structural make-up of the device severely curtails the applications to which the apparatus may be applied. In this particular structural area, the Johnson Patent differs significantly from the structural features of the present invention. Moreover, the Johnson Patent reveals numerical displays and image marking techniques which are of significant disadvantage and which provide further areas in which the present invention provides substantial improvement.
It is recognized that cameras have long been supported by supporting structures which permit adjustment of the camera field and include focusing features. However, the adjustment of camera supports has not been known in association with automatically combined microfilming and data processing techniques with which the Johnson Patent and the instant invention are involved. Thus, for example, mounting adjustments are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,318,871; 2,624,252; 2,985,415; 3,148,853; 3,183,770; and, 3,758,205. None of these patents, however, reveal a supporting structure which is remotely suggestive of the structure of the present invention, nor which achieves the results of the same.